A guest checked into a GUEST HOUSE in Mafikeng and was described as “very quiet”. After three days there he shot himself with his police service revolver. It took BnB Sure three days to clean up the mess in the room, but it was over a month before anybody was prepared to stay in that room again.
In Stellenbosch, the branch of a large oak tree kept hitting the tiled roof of a GUEST HOUSE eventually causing a piece of tile to break off. In falling to the ground it hit an American guest on his spectacles causing them to fall to the ground, but they did not break. The guest was scratched on the side of the nose but did not need either stitches or a plaster. A claim has been submitted for R8m against the GUEST HOUSE owner.
An air conditioner in a GUEST HOUSE in Richard’s bay failed during February leaving a room that guests would not occupy due to the heat. The part required took three weeks to arrive from Germany resulting in a loss of revenue to the GUEST HOUSE of almost R8000.
A fire broke out in the kitchen of a Cape Town GUEST HOUSE during November causing damage of a little over R300 000. The GUEST HOUSE did not have any Loss of Revenue cover resulting in a complete loss of income for the Christmas period – the busiest time of the year in Cape Town.
A Johannesburg GUEST HOUSE using a PERSONAL insurance policy suffered a loss when one of the employees stole R35 000 in jewellery from the owner. Insurers rejected the claim on the basis that the risk was no longer a private house.
Meningitis broke out at Potch University shortly before the inter-varsity match between Potch & Free State University. The day before the match, it had to be cancelled for fear of the disease being transmitted during visits by both players and supporters from Potch. Many GUEST HOUSESs in Bloemfontein without correct cover suffered a revenue loss as a result of last minute cancellation.
A man knocked at the door of a GUEST HOUSE in Rustenburg asking if there was any accommodation available. When told there were five rooms he said that he couldn’t believe his luck, as that was exactly what he needed. The GUEST HOUSE owners took a deposit (the cheque bounced) and handed over the keys, as he said his colleagues were at a conference in the town and they would be back later. They did come back and cleaned out all five rooms. The total of the loss was R40 000.
A farm in eastern Mpumalanga operating a GUEST HOUSE from the farm did not have a GUEST HOUSE policy of any sort, and only R1m in farm liability. A foreign guest fell into a hole on the farm and had to be hospitalised with serious injuries. This matter is still outstanding.
A B&B in KZN had a guest arrive in the early hours of the morning and within a short while was injured and hospitalised. A claim of R1m has been submitted and handed to BnB Sure to handle. This has taken two years and not yet finalised. The important thing to remember is that had the BnB Sure policy had any form of disclaimer requirement in relation to accident, the insured would not have had a claim against the policy but would still have had a claim from the injured guest. It is also important to note that many policies have a restriction in terms of legal defence costs, usually to around R50,000. This particular claim has not yet “gone to court” and legal defence costs are already substantially above R50,000
A fire broke out in the kitchen of a GUEST HOUSE in Johannesburg and the owner and the only assistant she has, went to put the fire out but both of them caught fire and had to be hospitalised. The business had to close for a period of three weeks. A claim of some R20,000 following loss of revenue following a traumatic event was paid.
A foreign teenage girl went to bed in a B&B in Durban and left the door wide open. In the morning it was discovered that intruders had entered the room and stolen most of the contents. Fortunately they did not touch the girl but when she and her parents discovered it, they immediately checked out and so did every other guest. A huge loss to the B&B would have occurred had the claim not been paid in terms of the loss of revenue following a traumatic event.
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